The Nantucket Wine Festival was an epicurean invasion of sorts-with winemakers, chefs and culinary 'luminaries' exploring the island's dynamic restaurant scene. Denis Toner, John Hayes and Frank Neer did a terrific job organizing this year’s festival and kicking it up a notch.

The event was held from Tuesday May 18th thru Sunday May 23rd. The seventh year for the festival and this year hosted for the first time at the White Elephant and Harbor House Inn. There were also special wine dinners "Great Wines in Grand Houses" held at private homes around the island with top chefs preparing elegant meals and winemakers pairing their wines to match the food. There were also wine tasting dinners held at many Nantucket restaurants with the islands hottest chefs devising pre fix dinners created to showcase the wines of the special guest vintner.

This year more than previous years there was an emphasis on food. Many of Boston, New York and Nantucket's hottest chef's were on hand giving cooking demonstrations and seminars. Of course there were also plenty of wine symposiums for discussions of viticulture and enology and chaired by some of the most famous winemakers in the world. These classes were for beginners and experts to learn philosophy and techniques from the masters.

The Festival's Thursday evening Charity Gala to benefit The Nantucket Historical Association was a fantastic opportunity to experience food and wine pairings at the White Elephant. The crowd at the Turley table was a bit anxious - Ehren Jordan, was a late arrival due to a shipping snafu {welcome home Ehren!} however one sip of his elegant Faillia Jordan Pinot Noir and all was forgotten. Barbara Lynch, of Boston’s No. 9 Park & recent James Beard Foundation Best Chef in the Northeast, took center stage on Delia's state of the art-VIKING demo kitchen-Her Squab prep was a divine match with many of the surrounding red wines. Newlyweds, Kerri Foley & Marc Orfaly, of Boston’s romantic jewel-Pigalle, returned to showcase Marc's love of Asian flavors with inventive “tuna & eel rolls” Marc is also busy overseeing a new Boston hotspot “Pekin Tom's” in the ladder district. Ana Sortun of Oleana in Cambridge made her first festival appearance, her table was gorgeous- beautiful Mediterranean copper filled with exotic flavors. Jamie d'Oliveira was the first Chef to represent Providence at the Festival- his artisan style sausages put his newly opened 'Mills Tavern' on top of my places to check-out list.

On Saturday and Sunday the Grand Tastings were held at the Harbor House Inn. This year the day’s tastings were broken down into 2+ hour sessions starting at ten in the morning. Saturday’s weather was a bit gray and cold. Sunday however was a beautiful, warm, sunny, spring day and was a who's who of the islands local community. Everyone was in great spirits and it was a great day and way to end the festival.

Visit their website: nantucketwinefestival.com